The present invention relates to a semiconductor fabrication apparatus and, more particularly, to such an apparatus having a front opening unified pod (FOUP) index in an apparatus installation area.
Generally, a semiconductor fabrication apparatus includes a FOUP for storing and transferring wafers, a FOUP index on which the FOUP is placed, a transfer chamber, a loadlock chamber, a loader, and processing chambers. The transfer chamber has a transfer device in order to transfer wafers in the FOUP to the loadlock chamber. Wafers are loaded or unloaded after a door of the FOUP is opened.
In case of transferring or processing semiconductor wafers, the ambient environment should be very clean. Thus, wafers are transferred by being inserted into a very clean FOUP.
Referring to FIGS. 1–3, a FOUP 100 is placed on a plate 90 on the FOUP index 10 by an automated guided vehicle (AGV) robot 70. A door of the FOUP 100 is opened by a robot arm system 110. That is, when the door of the FOUP 100 is stuck to the robot arm system 110 by key grooves of the robot arm system 110, the robot arm system 110 moves downward to open the door of the FOUP. Wafers in the FOUP 100 are transferred to a loadlock chamber 30 by a transfer device in a transfer chamber 20, and then sent to a processing chamber 50 by another transfer device in a loader 40. The finished wafers are stored into a FOUP in an inverse operation.
In a conventional semiconductor fabrication apparatus where the FOUP index 10 protrudes into the working area defined by the partition 80, the AGV robot 70 can, while moving, load and unload the FOUP 100 on the plate 90 on the FOUP index 10.
Because of the FOUP index 10 protrudes into the working area, however, there are several problems with this approach. A dead space 60 in which operators cannot work is formed between adjacent apparatus, thereby decreasing the use of space in fabrication. The width of the working area also is inefficiently increased. Further, because of a transfer module such as a transfer chamber and a loadlock chamber, the process becomes complicated. Also, undesirable air eddies are generated above and below the FOUP index 10 in the working area in accordance with conventional configurations.